Obscurial Harry
by Superboy19
Summary: The abuse of his family forced him to try and suppress his magic, an act of disastrous results. Now off to Hogwarts Harry must navigate the magical world, making friends, allies, enemies and possibly fighting a Dark Lord while he's at it - I know the summary sucks but I will improve it later - HarryxHarem, Darker Harry possible bashing.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Disclaimer: - **_I do not own Harry Potter or Fantastic Beasts. _

The seemingly normal number four Privet Drive was home to the Dursley family, who were very proud of the fact that they were boringly normal. They were the last people that you would assume would be involved in something weird or impossible to explain. Which is why it was so strange that their home one day, in the early hours of the morning just as the sun began to rise, exploded. The Dursley's themselves were away, visiting family somewhere, when it happened, so everybody as they filed out of their homes had assumed that all they would find would be flames and destruction. However, sitting where they believed the stairs should've been based on their own homes' layout, was a small sickly, very malnourished, looking boy with pale skin covered in dirt.

To their horror they all knew who he was when they saw him. A boy they had long thought to be dead. Harry Potter, the adopted nephew of the Dursley's who had lost his parents when he was a baby. Harry had 'died' when he was around five, although no one really knew what happened they had assumed that it was an illness.

Strangely the boy was still. So still that it was scary.

He just looked straight forward at the crowds of people gathering, wincing as the sun began to touch his skin. He was dressed just as badly as he appeared.

Within minutes the police had arrived, along with an ambulance and a fire engine, clearly expected to find a gigantic mess. The police and firemen began to survey the wreckage, searching for whatever they could, while one office, along with his partner, wondered toward the boy.

One stopped a distance from him, while the other, a man around the age of fifty with a kind looking face, cautiously approached. "Hello?" He spoke up, making sure that his voice was as gentle as possible. They boy flinched despite that fact, and the officer's eyes narrowed for a moment. He put up both hands. "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you." He resumed his kind expression and spoke with the same soft voice as he lowered himself into a crouch. "Is it okay if I come closer or do you want me to stay here?"

The boy didn't talk, but he pointed to the ground where the man was standing. "Okay, okay." He smiled. Conveniently there was a chunk of debris that he could sit on, so he took advantage of that. "Are you hurt at all?" You would think it was a stupid question, but he couldn't see any injuries and he needed to be sure.

The boy shook his head.

"Sir," another officer came over to stand beside his partner "I recognise that boy." The older officer gestured for him to come closer. He did so and whispered in his ear.

"Thank you." The other officer left. "Can I ask, is your name Harry Potter?"

A nod.

"Well then Harry, have you ever been for a ride in a police car?"

Harry suddenly got scared, but no ordinary fear, it was far beyond that. He was just scared he was terrified, like he was surrounded by monsters. He tried to stand but tripped on something and stumbled backward, falling on something which cut his arm. Debris strangely began to shake and shiver as if was sharing his fear, but not enough that it was noticed by the police. He didn't seem to notice the deep cut on his arm, or the blood that flowed from it.

"Wait! No, Harry, I didn't-I'm not arresting you. You didn't do anything wrong." He tried to placate the boy, looking him dead in the eye, making a point not to change his expression. He didn't want to push the boy, he wanted him to clam down so that he could protect him.

He had been a police officer for over half of his life, he had seen cases of child abuse before. He could honestly say that crimes against kids were the worst, but the shivering, pale child in front of him was perhaps the worst case. His reaction to him was enough to clue him in.

"You didn't do anything wrong." Harry stopped trying to run away, finally noticing that his arm was hurt, bringing tears to his eyes. "I just want to take you to the station so that we can protect you. I don't want to hurt you."

"You don't have to if you don't want to. Do you want to?"

"W-W-Will my A-Aunt and U-U-Uncle be there?"

"Well that depends. Do _you_ want them to be there?" he stressed the word 'you' so that he could make it clear to the young boy that it was his choice, no one else's. Harry shook his head. So fast that the officer feared that he might break his neck, or at the least damage it somehow. "Okay, then they won't be there. But can you tell me why you don't want to see them?"

"T-T-They'll b-blame me. U-Uncle V-V-Vernon will s-say that I d-did it."

He wanted to laugh. Harry was so skinny that you could see some of his bones, the idea of him blowing up a house was impossible. Still, he stopped himself before he could, not even allowing a hint of a chuckle onto his face. "And why would he think that?"

"He a-always blames me w-when bad t-things happen."

"And what does he do to you then?"

"I-I shouldn't s-say." He protested, his body shaking more violently from a mixture of the cold and his fear.

"It's okay." The officer removed his coat cautiously. "You don't have to be afraid to tell me." Checking that his coat was free of anything that might harm Harry he ten cautiously stepped forward. Harry flinched, which he didn't ignore, he slowed down, carefully approaching just enough that he could hand him the coat. "Can I take a look at your arm?" He asked. A tangent to distract from the fear.

Harry watched him for a moment before nodding. "My name's David by the way," he began as he settled in front of Harry, who now clung to his coat, while David cautiously took his arm, holding it gently, before examining the cut "it's nice to meet you."

"Okay, you're bleeding quite a lot, but if you will allow it, I can have one of my nice friends come over and stitch it for you." He took out a handkerchief to use to soak up some of the blood and apply some pressure to help stop the bleeding. He pointed over to the ambulance.

"W-Will you stay?"

"Of course, I'll stay for as long as you want me to." He replied, happy that the boy was beginning to trust, if even just a little. He signalled to his partner to bring someone over. "While we wait do you feel comfortable enough to tell me about what your Uncle would do if something strange were to happen?"

A moment of silence passed between them, David was happy to wait for Harry to speak, he knew that Harry was probably meeting someone knew for the first time since his recorded death, which was over a year before. Getting him to trust him would be tough, but he didn't mind, helping people was the reason he became a police officer after all.

One of the paramedics came over in that time and started to patch Harry up. It seemed that she also picked up on what the boy had been through when she came over, the most obvious hint being his instinctual flinch and fear to anyone new around him, and from the intense look in her eye when Harry looked back to him he could guess that she was feeling much the same as him. "O-Okay I'll t-tell you." He winced as some disinfectant was applied to his arm before continuing. "H-He gets a-angry. P-Puts me i-in my c-cupboard. H-Hits me or w-won't let m-me eat."

'_I haven't even met this man yet and I already want to kill him.' _The officer eased closer to Harry, close enough, that when he removed his coat, he could hand it to the boy. "Well he won't be doing that anymore."

"What's your name?" The paramedic asked.

"H-Harry."

"Well Harry, your arm is going to need a few stiches. It won't take long, but it might hurt a little bit. Is it okay?" She asked. She was a short slender woman with a pretty face and dark red hair which for some reason was comforting to him. He nodded after a moment and she prepared to perform the stitching. "Alright, well I'm going to start now so I need you to be brave, but I'll give you a treat afterward." She smiled brightly at him.

A minute later she was all done with his arm. Surprisingly Harry barely flinched when the needle pierced his flesh or when his arm was sewn back together. Some might say this was a testament to his bravery, and that's what she told him, but she and David both knew that it simply meant the boy was used to pain. Far more than any boy ever should.

**[BREAK]**

As the chaotic scene unfolded a single old man watched from a distance. Albus Dumbledore had been sitting in his office when he suddenly felt a disturbance in the wards that surrounded the house that had so violently been destroyed. After checking the registry, confirming that Harry was alive, he apparated to the scene to find out what was going on. Five years ago, when he left Harry with the Dursleys, Albus had thought that he would be safe. The blood wards that his mother had created were the perfect thing to hide him from the world and for the first few years he would pop in and check that he was alright even if he didn't sense anything wrong with the wards, just to be sure. Alas, at that moment, as he walked toward the wreckage, a feeling of dread in his heart, he knew that he had made the wrong decision.

The feeling of the magic in the air, that which was left behind, not by his mass altering of memories, but from the terrible fate of the Boy-Who-Lived, made it clear to him that he was a terrible, horrible, vile, excused or a human being.

He waved his wand and the house slowly began to reform, not physically, he didn't need it to be physically repaired, just a perfect holographic image of the building. It was as if time was rewinding as he stood in the middle of the house, watching as the walls, windows and furniture were pulled back together into their proper places. But he didn't care about that. None of it. His eyes were fixed on the black cloud-like oil that was present.

He navigated to the hall, moving to the stairs as the black substance retreated into.

He hadn't experienced fear in a long time, but as he drew closer to the door of the closet under the stairs, he felt fear rush through his body enough that he shivered furiously.

A subtle wand movement when everything stopped, and the fake door opened.

He stood there in silence, as if mourning, and in a way he was. He wasn't sure for how long, perhaps seconds, maybe an hour, even days. He would've believed any answer he was given. The image of the tony baby that he brought to the doorstep flashed in his mind, followed by his two parents as they grew up right in front of him, and then finally his sister. His sister. Ariana. He had failed hair, left his family and been the one to actually kill her. His greatest regret. A mistake that he had vowed never to repeat, never to allow to happen again. A vow that he had broken by placing the boy he swore to protect with… he wasn't sure what to call them.

Wisps of light were ejected from his wand, pooling together to form the image of a phoenix. "Please go tell my old friend Mr Scamander that I have urgent need of his assistance. If he hesitates please tell him that me may have another Credence on our hands." He instructed his Patronus, which quickly flew away. _'I'm am so sorry James, Lily… Harry.' _


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**A/N: -** _I know that this chapter is a bit of a jump from the last, but I really didn't want to spend half a dozen chapters going from the explosion until his first year at Hogwarts, so instead, I'm going to explore elements of his past through flashbacks, at least I think I will. _

**I haven't decided yet what the pairing should be, although I am leaning toward having this be a harem fic. **

With the compartment door closed, the twins having left to meet one of their friends, the fiery haired boy sitting opposite Harry, the younger brother of the two twins, suddenly blurted out. "Are you really Harry Potter?!" His voice clearly louder and squeakier than he expected it to sound. To be honest Harry wanted to lie, but that would be the wrong way to start his time at Hogwarts, so he sighed before nodding. He guessed that he would next ask him about his scar, or something to that effect.

"Oh, well I thought it might have been one of Fred and George's jokes." Ron said. "And have you really got – you know…" He trailed off, but his question was clear. Harry didn't really want to, but he caved and lifted his fringe to show the lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. "S-So that's where You-Know-Who-?"

"Yeah." Harry mentally sighed. _'He told me that I should try and make friends.' _He reflected on the words of his mentor. "But I can't remember it." He added, in the hopes of carrying the conversation onward. Hoping that Ron's curiosity over Harry would end quickly.

"Really? Nothing?" He replied almost eagerly.

"Not really, well – I remember a bright flash of green light, but nothing else." He stated. _'Oh yeah, and the dying screams of my mum and an evil laugh.' _He mentally added.

"Wow." He gaped for several long seconds before he seemed to realise what he was doing. He turned to look out of the window. Silence passed between them for a moment before Harry spoke up.

"Are all of your family wizards?" He asked. Other than Newt, Tina, Dumbledore and McGonagall he didn't know any wizards so he would be lying if he didn't find himself curious as to what others would be like. Well, to be fair he also knew Hagrid, but that wasn't the same thing.

"Er – yes," he seemed to think it over before continuing "I think so, but I think I remember my mum mentioning she had a cousin who's an accountant or something. But we never talk about him."

"Why not?"

"Uh – I'm not really sure, mum just never talks about him. That's how its always been."

"Do you know any magic already?" Harry had been told a little bit about the Old Wizarding Families, and the name Weasley rung a bell, he just couldn't place it.

"I heard you went to live with Muggles, what was that like?"

The moment of silence that followed the question and the slight chill told Ron that speaking about Muggles might be a bad move in Harry's presence. "Crap." Harry stated bluntly. "My Uncle, Aunt and Cousin were – I'm not really sure how to describe them. But there were some nice people to, I guess. I wish I'd had three wizard brothers."

"Five." His mood turned gloomy for some reason. Harry briefly wondered if his home life was as bad as Harry's used to be, but then he remembered how the family acted when he watched them on the platform and the very notion seemed to be idiotic. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. Could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie, the oldest, have already left – Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was Captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a Prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still got good grades and they're on the Quidditch team, everyone thinks they're funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, the others did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand and Percy's old rat." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a sleeping fat grey rat. "Name's Scabbers, he's useless. He sleeps most of the time." His jealousy was clear to Harry, but he chose to let him rant, realising that it was the best way to find out more. "Percy got given an owl because he was made Prefect, but they couldn't aff– I mean, I got Scabbers."

Going back to starring at the window, his ears turning pink from embarrassment, obviously thinking that he'd said too much. Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl, for years he had never had anything new. Then he had two years away in which he got to see what it was like to be part of a family before he was thrown back to the Dursleys. For whatever reason he didn't care. He had to go back to his cursed existence, but he at least knew that he could protect himself, and once they learned that they had also learned. Things got much easier for him, not good, not even close, but he at least escaped the brutal abuse that he had suffered to begin with.

He decided that he would tell Ron, hoping to cheer him up a bit. He shared that he never had any money of his own, that he had to wear his cousin's old clothes and had never been given any real birthday presents either. He left out the two years of happiness where none of those things were the case, instead telling him that the first time he ever got anything was when he went to his vault with Hagrid a month prior. His plan worked. Ron seemed to visibly brighten.

"I didn't even know that my parents had been murdered by Voldemort–"

Ron gasped sharply.

"What?"

"You-You said You-Know-Who's name!" His voice sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought that you of all people would, you know."

"Why, I'm not trying to be brave or anything but it's just a name. It's also kind of funny when you know what it means." He chuckled.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Every word has a meaning. But Voldemort," Ron flinched "means 'Flight from Death' which means that his name, the big bad Dark Lord, was afraid of death and even named himself after that fear." Ron's eyes widened. "I do get it though, why everyone is so afraid to say it. I just haven't had the same experience, so I never learned to fear it the same way."

"W–" Ron went to speak, but he was cut off when there was a knock on the door and a second later it was pulled open. Ron and Harry both spun to see who it was, Harry reaching for the wand in his sleeve subtly as he did so.

Standing there was a rather cute girl, the type you just knew would grow up to be an unparallel beauty, with long silvery hair with blue tips and brown eyes. She was already dressed in the school robes. She noted Harry, clearly impressed with his swift action, and a slight smirk appeared before she quickly schooled her expression. "Do you mind if I sit with you?" She asked, aiming the question at Harry.

"Uh, no. Go ahead." She smiled before taking a seat on the other end of the side that Harry was seated.

"Name's Delphini by the way." She held out her hand toward Harry.

"Harry." He took it, giving it a shake.

"I'm Ron." Ron held out his hand to shake too, but Delphini refused, clearly unimpressed by him.

"You two got last names?" She asked.

"Have you?!" Ron snapped.

"Yeah, Riddle. Delphini Riddle."

"Ron Weasley."

"Uh-huh," she clearly didn't care. "And what about you?" She asked Harry.

"Harry Potter." He could see that she was using all her will to stop her expression from changing from the slight kind smile she was giving him. He of course wondered why she would have such a strong reaction to him, but while he would keep his guard up, he also didn't want to make an enemy. "It's nice to meet you Delphini." He smiled kindly.

"Yeah." She replied curtly before leaning to the side and taking out a book.

Despite her Harry and Ron continued to talk, Harry trying at several points to include Delphini, although she gave a curt reply and then returned to her book. Clearly, she had decided that she hated him. And after three attempts Harry chose not to disturb her anymore. While the two boys spoke the train sped on, passing by fields, farms and lanes. At 12:30 they heard a strange sound, which turned out to be the wheels of a trolley that moved down the train, pushed by a smiling, dimpled, plump woman, and the cart stacked high with all kinds of treats. She opened the compartment door and peered inside. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" She asked cheerfully.

Delphini glanced at the sweets, Harry spotted something in her eyes in that moment before she went back to her book, carefully schooling her expression. Ron also looked to the cart, but he went red as he pulled out something wrapped in foil. "No thanks, I brought sandwiches."

Harry looked at the cart, wondering what they had, he was surprised to see that there were no Mars Bars or Galaxy, but rather all kinds of sweets and treats from the magical world. "Hmm?" He touched his pocket and smile. Pulling out some gold and silver, Ron's eyes going wide and Delphini raising a brow slightly. "I'll take a few of everything please."

"Of course, dear."

A minute later Harry had all kinds of treats piled beside him. "Hungry, are you?" Ron asked.

"Missed breakfast, so a bit." He selected a pumpkin pasty, opening it and taking a large bite. The lumpy mass wrapped in foil that Ron had, was a set of four sandwiches. He pulled one apart, glancing at the filling.

"She always forgets I don't like corned beef."

"Swap you for one of these?" Harry held out a pasty to him. "Go on –"

"You don't want this. It's all dry. She hasn't got much time, you know, with the five of us."

"Yeah, that's fair. _Accio._" Quicker than Ron could react Harry took out his wand and the package zoomed into his hand, his wand slipping back into his sleeve before it could be seen and before he caught the foil package. He tossed the pasty to Ron. Ron looked shocked while Harry just smirked. "Don't worry about it. I happen to like corned beef."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Harry placed the sandwiches to one side before glancing at Delphini. "Do you want anything?" She shook her head. "Here." He tossed her a pasty and a Chocolate Frog. "In case you change your mind." She caught them on reflexively. Harry found that it was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating through the pile of goodies. "They're good." It was nice to have someone that he could call a friend, someone to share with. They continued to talk as they ate, Harry being polite in not speaking when he was eating, but Ron didn't seem to care. It took about thirty minutes for Delphini to cave, her curiosity gaining the better of her. She opened the pasty first, carefully taking a bite, a small one, almost as if she was expecting that it was somehow poisoned.

Harry watched out of the corner of his eyes as her eyes shot wide open, clearly holding wonder. He smiled as she began eating the rest.

"Told you they were good." He smiled at her when she had finished. She scowled at him but couldn't think of anything to say. Despite her scowl, if you looked carefully enough you could see that her cheeks had a slight pink dusting.

Harry picked up a Chocolate Frog of his own and asked Ron. "These aren't real frogs, are they?"

"No, it's just a spell. But check to see the card, I'm missing Agrippa."

"What?"

"Oh, of course I forgot, Muggle raised. Chocolate Frogs have cards inside them, you know, to collect, of famous Wizards and Witches. I've got about five hundred of them myself, but I'm missing Agrippa and Ptolemy. Well them and the Limited-Edition ones."

"Limited Edition?"

"Yeah, sometimes they do events and special cards come out. A few years ago, they did a Dark Lord edition where you could get the cards of people like You-Know-Who." Ron informed him. "They look a bit different, but they only show up that once."

"Shouldn't Voldemort have a card already?" Harry asked.

"Why? He's evil."

"Yeah, but he was still great."

"How could you of all people say that?!"

"He might've been a bad guy, evil even, but he was so strong that even adults fear saying his name, even after his death. When you have that much power you should be considered great."

"But he's evil!"

"Great doesn't mean good."

Harry opened the package and quickly caught the frog as it tried to jump away. He caught it so casually that he didn't even look. With the other hand he took out the card. "Albus Dumbledore." He brought the frog into his mouth and he ate it before turning the card over and reading it aloud.

_Albus Dumbledore, currently Headmaster at Hogwarts. Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling. _

Looking back to the front of the card he noted that the old man had vanished. "Damn, I got Morgana again!" Ron cursed. "Do you want it? You can start collecting." He handed Harry the card, which Harry put together with the Dumbledore one. Ron then glanced at the pile of Chocolate Frogs that lay unopened.

Harry picked up one more and smiled at Ron. "Help yourself." When the pile ran out Ron had found no new cards, giving them all to Harry instead because he didn't need them, while Harry found several cards in addition to Albus Dumbledore and the Morgana that Ron gave him, he obtained Morgan Le Fay, Godric Gryffindor, Queen Maeve, Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe and Merlin. "What's an Animagus?"

"A what?"

"An Animagus?"

"No idea mate, maybe we can find out at Hogwarts."

Harry looked at the considerably smaller pile and picked up a box labelled _Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans _and opened it. He picked out a single bean. "You want to be careful with those." Ron warned.

"What'd you mean?"

"Well when they say every flavour, they mean every flavour. They've got the normal ones, like chocolate and stuff, but they also have strange ones, even some really bad ones. George reckons he had a bogey flavoured one once."

"Yuck."

"Yeah." Harry held out the box and Ron took one, putting it in his mouth, to his immediate regret. "Bleaaargh!" He tried to spit it out but had already swallowed it. "See, sprouts? I hate sprouts."

Harry ate his. "Strawberry." He smirked.

He held the box out to Delphini. She was hesitant but took one. She cringed. "Lime."

"Want another?" Harry asked Ron.

"Sure." He took one and ate another. "Yuck, coffee."

Then Harry. "Toast." He held the box out to Delphini, who hesitated for less time than before. She smiled when she ate hers. "Strawberry."

"Damn. Vomit flavour." Ron felt like he was going to vomit. Delphini smirked at his misfortune. They went through a few more rounds, each time Ron got a terrible flavour, Harry got some good ones, but most of his were in the middle ground, not being good or bad, while Delphini seemed to have the Devil's luck or something. She got a good flavour every time but once, in which she got a middle ground flavour.

Harry picked up a funny grey looking one next. He ate it whole like they had been doing, to his horror it was pepper flavoured. He started coughing, handing the box to Delphini so that he wouldn't drop it. Ron laughed, cheering at Harry's downfall, while Delphini let out a girly giggle. She caught herself after a few seconds, but too late to cover it up. Harry smiled at her when he got over the initial shock of the flavour and she went bright red when she saw his smile. "That made eating the bean worth it." His smile grew. Her cheeks became even more vibrantly red.

"Shut up!" She yelled in a very girly fashion. Ron smirked but her icy glare prevented him from outright laughing in her face.

Before things got too out of hand there was a knock on their door. The round-faced boy that Harry had passed on the platform came in. He looked tearful and once he saw the trio inside fear was added to his face. "Sorry," he squeaked "but have you seen my toad?"

"Sorry, but no." Harry answered.

He wailed. "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

"He'll turn up." Harry comforted him.

"Yes," he wiped his eyes "well, if-if you s-see him…" They nodded, and then he left.

"Don't know why he's so bothered. If I'd brought a toad, I'd lose the thing as soon as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers so I can't talk." Ron commented. His rat was still asleep, snoozing in his lap. "He might've died, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference." He said with disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday, to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. Look I'll show you." He quickly rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a tattered wand, chipped in several places and white glinting at the end. "Unicorn hair's almost poking out. Anyway –"

He had barely raised his wand when the door to their compartment opened again. The toad boy had returned, but this time accompanied by a girl. She was already wearing her Hogwarts robes, much like Delphini. "Has anyone seen a toad, Neville's lost one." She had a bossy sort of voice, with lots of bushy brown hair and slightly larger front teeth.

"We already told him we haven't seen it."

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it then." She sat down opposite Delphini. Harry then noticed that Delphini had actually moved closer to him, probably when they were eating the every-flavoured beans. Ron looked a bit perturbed by her, but he continued.

"Er – Alright." He took a deep breath. "_Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow. Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow._" Despite the words and waving of his wand nothing happened. Scabbers stayed grey and asleep.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" The girl asked. "Well, its not very good, is it? Ive tried a few simple spells myself just for practice and its all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard – I've learned all out set books off by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough – I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?" Every word she spoke came out of her mouth at a rate that was faster than normal.

"I'm Ron Weasley."

"Delphini Riddle."

"Harry Potter."

"Are you really?" Said Hermione. "I know everything about you, of course – I got a few extra books for background reading, you're in: _Modern Magical History _and _Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts _and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century._"

"You don't know anything about me." Harry for the first time wasn't smiling, a scowl marring his features.

"Of course, I do, I read the books. Didn't you know? I'd have found out everything I could if it was me." She was still talking too fast, and she failed to notice Harry's change. "Do you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best, I hear Dumbledore himself was even one. Although Ravenclaw wouldn't be so bad. Anyway, we better go look for Neville's toad. You two had better change I suspect we'll be there soon." And then she left.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it." Ron glared at the door. He stuffed his wand into his pocket. "Stupid spell – George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."

"He probably made it up." Delphini added.

"Yeah." He then looked to Harry. "Are you alright, mate?"

"Yeah, fine." Harry said, his smile returning. Ron smiled, but unlike him Delphini knew it was fake. "So, I was wondering, what house are your brothers in?"

"Gryffindor." A gloom seemed to fall on him. "Mum and Dad were in it too. Don't know what they'd do if I'm not. Suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad."

"You don't need to worry about Ravenclaw." Delphini smirked. Seeing his confusion, she continued. "Your house is chosen based on your own traits, personality and stuff like that. Ravenclaws are people that seek knowledge and are smart, you are neither."

"Hey!" Ron growled. "Bet you'd be in Slytherin."

"What's so bad about Slytherin?" Harry asked.

"They're all evil! You-Know-Who was one of them!" Ron yelled, glaring at Delphini.

"I doubt that." Harry stated flatly. Both looked to him. "Delphini isn't an evil person, sure," he looked at her directly in the eyes "you're guarded and take a bit of getting used to. But you're nice, even if you end up in Slytherin you won't become evil."

She blushed, but then became downcast when he turned to Ron. "I doubt being evil is a quality they look for in students anyway." They argued for a little longer before they moved onto talking about other things. Including Ron's brothers. The eldest Bill worked for Gringotts and was in Africa, while Charlie apparently worked with dragons in Romania. That topic led to them talking about a break in at Gringotts. Apparently, nothing was taken, but according to Ron it was still bad, because when something like that happened it was You-Know-Who that everyone would suspect. They spoke for a while, going onto Quidditch, before once again their compartment was opened.

Harry was a little surprised to see the blond boy that he had met briefly in Diagon Alley. Turns out he wasn't a nice person, and he and Ron looked like they were going to come to blows at some point. It was a little surprising to find out that he apparently knew Delphini, he insulted her decision to spend time with them, Harry and Ron, and told her that he had never allowed her to do such a thing. Harry though that his choice of words was strange. From what he gathered Delphini didn't like him very much, the burning hatred in her eyes was enough to portray that. She bit back. "You don't own me Malfoy, I do what I want."

He only smirked and said. "For now." He then moved from her to insulting Ron and his family, mocking the way they chose to live and their financial situation. "I'd be careful if I were you Potter, unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around the riff-raff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid and it'll rub off on you."

Ron was already standing, his face turned as red as his hair. "Say that again."

"Oh. You're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.

'_Huh?' _Delphini suddenly felt a slight chill. She could feel a slight breeze pass through the room, the air brushing her skin gently. That alone was nothing to be confused by, what confused her though was that the compartment door had closed, and the window was shut after a Chocolate Frog had jumped out. There was no where that a breeze could've come from.

"Unless you get out now," Harry took a step forward "yeah." Crabbe and Goyle were much bigger than Ron and Harry, but he didn't really care about that.

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you've still got some." Goyle reached toward a Chocolate Frog, but before he could touch it, he let out a horrible yell. From his finger hung Scabbers, his little teeth sunk into his flesh. Crabbe and Malfoy backed up as Goyle swung round and round, the rat still biting his finger, while he cried out.

Scabbers finally flew off his finger, almost hitting the window, but Delphini caught him just before he could. "Get him!" Malfoy yelled. Crabbe grabbed Ron, but before he could get a proper hold on him, he and Goyle were thrown backward. They hit the compartment door hard, making it shake.

"Get out." Harry stated coldly, glaring at Malfoy.

"Let's go." Pretending that he wasn't afraid Malfoy grabbed the boys and ran, which in itself just proved that he was afraid. Not a second later the door opened again, Hermione Granger returning.

"What has been going on?" She asked.

Ron took Scabbers from Delphini, who was glad to get rid of thee rat. "I think he's been knocked out – No – Wait, I don't believe it! He's gone back to sleep." Ron groaned. "You've met Malfoy before?" Harry answered by telling him about the day that he met him in Diagon Alley and the short conversation they had.

"I've heard of his family, some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who was defeated. Said they'd been bewitched. Dad doesn't believe it. Says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark side." Turning to Hermione Ron then asked. "Is there something you want?"

"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to ask the driver, we'll being arriving soon. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"

"Scabbers has been fighting not us." Ron stated.

"Well I did use a bit of magic, but that was it." Harry added.

Scowling at her Ron said. "Do you mind leaving? We need to change."

"All right – I only came in her because people in the hall are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors." She stated in a niffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"

Ron glared at her as she left, while Harry peered out of the window. He noted that it was getting dark, and he could see mountains and forests under the deep purple sky. The train also seemed to be slowing down gradually. He suggested to Ron that they get changed, Delphini stepped out while they did, returning when Harry opened the door and invited her back in.

**[BREAK]**

When they reached the end of their journey Harry was surprised, yet Happy to see Hagrid there. The giant guided the first years to several small boats. They were told to go four to a boat. Harry and Ron ended up in a boat with Hermione and Neville, with Delphini in another boat with three other girls. They were some of the last to get on the boats which was why they didn't end up in the same boat. Trevor the Toad was returned to Neville when they were climbing out of the boats, retrieved by Hagrid, who spotted the creature when they were all leaving the boats and he was making sure that they left nothing behind.

They all marvelled at the giant castle that would become their home while they were at school. They were guided into the castle and taken through the halls and to the doors that led to the Great Hall. They were asked to wait outside those giant doors.

Harry leaned against the wall as they waited, talking to Ron, glancing over at Delphini who was talking to two girls that she shared a boat with. One was a blonde, pretty, girl and the other a brunette. She seemed to be happy talking to them, making Harry smile. The blonde girl seemed to be a lot like Delphini, her expression was just as managed as the other girl, but the brunette was very different, her emotions clear to see on her face as she smiled and talked.

Neville and Hermione were standing nearby, he listening to her talk about what she knew of the school from one of the many books she had read, although it was clear to anyone that looked that he wasn't interested. There were a few others that were also standing there forced to listen to her, and other than the random fact which turned out to be interesting, they were less interested than even Neville.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The doors of the Entrance Hall swung open suddenly, and a tall woman with long dark hair dressed in emerald green robes complete with a tall hat stepped out. Her face was stern, but Harry knew that she had a soft side already. "The firs' years Professor McGonagall." Hagrid informed her.

"Thank you, Hagrid, I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wide, letting them see inside the hall. It was so large that the whole of the Dursley's house could easily fit inside. Lit by flaming torches that lined the walls, bathing the room with a warm glow, the ceiling was so high that it couldn't be seen, and a marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. At McGonagall's instruction they followed her, and she led them up those stairs and across flagged stone that made up the floor. They could hear the muffled chatter of hundreds coming from a door ahead, presumably their destination.

However, rather than taking them straight to the large doors, she instead guided them to a nearby room, a small room which Harry assumed correctly was a waiting room of sorts. They all crowded in, everyone gathering together, looking around nervously. "Welcome to Hogwarts," McGonagall began "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will need to be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your houses will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room." She explained while everyone listened carefully. "The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin." Draco and his stooges muttered amongst themselves with smirks at the mention of the last. "Each house has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding wizards and witches. While you're at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose you those points. At the end of the year the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."

"The Sorting Ceremony will begin in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you smarten yourselves up as much as you can before we begin." She instructed, her eyes lingering for a moment on Neville's cloak and Ron's smudged nose. "I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly." And with that she left the room, leaving them alone.

"How do they sort us into houses?" A dark-skinned boy asked.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred says it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking." Ron replied. Most people looked afraid, Harry noted that there were only a few exceptions to that. Hermione was mumbling quickly about all the spells she had learned and which one she might need, Draco was chatting with his friends, a smirk permanently on his face, Delphini looked confident, as did the blonde with her, while the brunette looked to be slightly nervous.

While they were all gathered and nervous, several ghosts arrived, talking about one of their kind until they spotted them. The Ghosts spoke a little, the Friar wishing them good luck and hoping to see some of them in his old house. However, before their conversations could really go anywhere the stern McGonagall returned to the room. She instructed them to form a line and then to follow her. They did as told Harry falling into line in front of Ron, behind him was Neville, then Hermione, a ginger girl, a sandy haired boy and so on, while in front of him was the brunette girl, the blonde and then Delphini, Crabbe, Goyle and Draco. They walked out of the chamber they were in, out into the hall and then to the doors to the Great Hall, which McGonagall pushed open.

The room was huge, almost as if it was built to house giants like Hagrid rather than normal people, a place that was both splendid and strange. Thousands upon thousands of candles floated in the air, lighting the room, all of which were floating along four large tables, longer than any that Harry had ever seen, where all the students were sitting. Each table was lined with glistening golden plates and goblets, although there was no food. At the end of the hall, on a slightly raised area was another table, one that had all the teachers sitting at, with Dumbledore in the centre of the table, sitting at a larger and grander chair than the others. It almost looked like a throne. The Professor led them to the front, between the staff table and the student's tables. They were still in a line, facing the students, with the teachers behind them.

The hundreds of faces of the student body starred at them, hidden amongst them were the silvery faces of the ghosts of the castle. The faces of the students looked like pale lanterns, the flickering light of the candles illuminating them all. Harry glanced upward to the velvety black roof covered the stairs, obviously reflecting the outside of the castle. It was honestly hard to believe that the roof was even there when it looked so much like the building had simply been opened to expose them to the heavens. Hermione muttered about it being bewitched, but Harry ignored her.

McGonagall placed a four-legged stool in front of them, the sound of the wooden limbs clearly heard throughout the almost perfectly silent hall. Atop the stool she then placed a pointed wizard hat, one which looked to be ancient. Complete silence passed for several seconds before a rip, a tear in the hat, opened near to the brim of the hat, much like a mouth. Then very unexpectedly, the hat began to sing. A strange song indeed, but everyone listened, no one interrupting. Then, when it was finished, the hall burst into applause.

When the applause died down the hall returned to its silence. "So, we've just got to put on a hat?" Ron whispered to Harry. "I'm going to kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll." He hissed. Harry just smirked.

Holding a roll of parchment, McGonagall stepped forward. "When I call out your name, you will sit on the stool, I will place the hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses." She opened the parchment and looked at the list of names. "Abbott, Hannah!" She called out.

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of the line, shuffling nervously over to the stool before taking a seat. McGonagall took the hat and placed it on her head, it fell over the girl's eyes, preventing her from seeing anything. A moment past and then the hat shouted. "HUFFLEPUFF!" The table on the right cheered and clapped, Hannah smiled as she went to sit at their table. The ghost of the Fat Friar happily waved at her while she was greeted by several of her new house.

"Bones, Susan!" This time a plump ginger girl moved to the stool and took a seat, the hate being placed on her head.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" She went to join Hannah, sitting beside her at the table.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!" The table, second from the left, erupted into applause the same way the Hufflepuff table did. Several of the house stood and greeted Terry as he took his seat at their table.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy." She joined Ravenclaw. "Brown, Lavender." Became the first Gryffindor, who's table sat on the far-left side of the hall, amongst their explosive cheers Harry spotted the twins. "Bulstrode, Millicent." Then became a Slytherin. Now Harry tried not to judge, but they all looked like a rather unpleasant lot. For most the hat only took a few seconds to work out which house should be the home of the student, but when it came to Seamus Finnigan it took almost a whole minute before the hat selected Gryffindor. "Granger, Hermione."

The nerdy girl took her seat on the stool. She almost ran to it, clearly eager, she even jammed the hat on her head. "GRYFFINDOR!" Much to Ron's annoyance the hat chose the same house that he wanted to go to.

"Longbottom, Neville." The boy was so nervous that he tripped and fell before he could reach the stool. It took even longer to decide where he belonged than it did for Seamus, but at almost the three-minute mark the hat called out.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Neville was so excited by the choice that he rushed off, forgetting about his hat and had to jog back in order to return it for the next person. Names were continuously read from the parchment and more and more people were sorted into their houses. Eventually it was Malfoy's turn, and he was sorted at a record speed. The hat barely touched his head before he was sorted into Slytherin, much to his delight.

More followed, again and again, Harry listened and began to feel slightly nervous as his name got closer and closer. "Potter, Harry."

Whispers broke out as Harry walked over to the stool. "Potter, did she say?"

"The Harry Potter."

Before the hat was dropped over his eyes the last thing that Harry saw was the crowded hall all looking at him. Darkness fell over his field of vision and he felt a slight tingling in his mind, sort of like a scratching, before the hat chose to spoke. "Hmm?" It spoke in a small voice, directly into his ear. It was clear that no one else could hear the voice but him. It was probably the same for Neville and Seamus when they were wearing the hat. "Difficult, very difficult. Plenty of courage I see. Not a bad mind either, a strong sense of loyalty as well. There's talent, oh yes, lots of talent and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting. Cunning too."

Harry just sat and waited. He wasn't sure what he thought either. He knew that he didn't want to be with Malfoy, nor his two stooges, but he couldn't judge them all the same. Thinking about it, the rest of the house didn't seem to look much better. Aside from Delphini and her two friends, who after the sorting he had learned the names of. The pretty blonde was named Daphne Greengrass, while the brunette was named Tracey Davis. He wasn't sure that he would survive in a house with just three tolerable people. "I agree, with that power you keep hidden. Putting you there might prove to be dangerous. Still, that and Gryffindor would serve you the best."

**[BREAK]**

The hat, for the first time in a long time, was stuck between two houses, and for that reason over five minutes had passed by while it thought. In truth Harry Potter had qualities that made him suited for all the houses, and he was sure that he would thrive anywhere. He was brave, daring and noble, he had the true heart of a Gryffindor. He was hard-working, dedicated, patient and loyal to those that were the same to him. Hufflepuff. Though he may be humble, he was also vastly intelligent, his life giving him a maturity beyond his years, knowledgeable and witty, comparable to any Ravenclaw. Then lastly, he was also cunning and resourceful, with great ambitions that if achieved would change the world. He could match anyone from any house with their qualities. Nevertheless, his decision had to be sure. If he chose wrongly then Harry could fall, becoming a Dark Lord in his own right and from what he had seen of the past and in Harry's mind he was sure that if he did so, he would become a greater terror than even Voldemort. He already had power enough, even if he refused schooling and simply grew older that power, which would grow with age, alone would be enough to defeat most people with brute force alone. Adding magic, spells, into the mix just gave him the versatility to fight smart rather than hard.

But the reverse was also true. Dumbledore wanted the boy to become the next protector of the light, like he, standing as an immovable force that would deter those that sought out dark power and defeated those that achieved it. The old man knew that he was going to die soon, he just wanted to make sure that when he went there was another to take his place. He wanted that to be Harry. He was sure that if he were placed in Hufflepuff then that would be the case, their kindness would be good for him, he would feel at home with them he was sure, and that kindness would feed his own. He was sure that he would end up leading the house if he so chose. Gryffindor could also be the same, he sure that he would find a loyal group of friends, although there was no guarantee that he would be cared for in the same way, he was sure that he would flourish in the academic sense at the very least. Ravenclaw was the middle ground, he could go either way with them. They favoured knowledge, but that could lead him to discovering dark knowledge, which in turn could take him toward a dark fate.

Then lastly, Slytherin. He was sure that Harry would become great if he were to join them, but Slytherin had earned its reputation of being dark for a reason. He had made the same decisions before, he made them with Tom Riddle. Part of the blame of what he became rested on his hat, he put him in Slytherin, and he was able to build his first collection of Death Eaters from their ranks. Harry could be different, he had seen the evil of people before, but at the same time he could be the same.

Then there was the other that he saw in his memories.

Harry was unaware of who she was, but he recognised the name and knew what it meant. Delphini Riddle, no doubt when she sat down on the stool and he was placed atop her head he would struggle the same with her. On the train Harry had seen looks in her eyes, hints of who she was, but the Sorting Hat was adept at reading people. He had been in enough heads, seen enough of their memories to know how to read even the smallest signs. She had no doubt been raised in hiding, taught to follow the ideals of her father, forced to take them as her own. If Dumbledore's suspicions were real and Voldemort was going to return – a little bit of information he had overheard – then she might join him, be raised to take over when he was truly dead. But if he was wrong, and Voldemort was dead, then it was possible that she would become the next him.

**[BREAK]**

Delphini waited as one of the last to be sorted, Harry still sitting on the stool with that hat over his head while the Sorting Hat took his sweet time deciding where Harry should go. She and the hall had been waiting for just under ten minutes for a decision to be made. At first everyone was excited to know where he would end up, but after five minutes worry began to creep in as they began to ponder what would happen and where he would go. _'Why do I care so much?'_ She wondered. She knew why everyone else did, he was there hero after all, but her? He killed her father, he was the reason that she was alone. He was the monster.

But was he? Everything she had been told about him, the reason that she was almost consumed by hate when he had revealed who he was on the train, that he was a murderer. That he was the villain. That she had to do everything she could do to stop him, to eradicate the threat to her father before his return, even if that meant being expelled. But could she? The boy that she met was nothing like the creature she had been told about.

Her father's Death Eaters were wrong, and if that was the case, if they were truly wrong about him, could they be wrong about everything else too? Was she on the wrong side? Was her father the villain? Was she destined to be the same?

**A/N: - I know this was an annoying place to end it, but I wanted to know what your thoughts were. I'm torn between three options, two I'm keener on than the other, but they all have merit. **

**1) Have Harry go to Gryffindor and Delphini Slytherin. **

**2) Have Harry go to Gryffindor and Delphini Gryffindor. **

**3) Have Harry go to Slytherin and Delphini Slytherin.**

**If (1) is picked then for a while I will be following the two of them separately, at least for a little bit. Harry will follow mostly canon, but he is obviously a bit different and he will make a few more friends which will, in turn, have an impact on the story, an effect which will increase over time. Delphini will follow her own arc, which does interact with Harry's, but she won't really cross with him for a while, I'm thinking that they should get a lot closer in the second year when everyone is calling him the Heir after the whole Parseltongue ordeal. **

** Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Dean and Seamus.  
Delphini, Daphne, Tracey and Blaise. **

**If (2) is picked then Harry and Delphini will interact a lot more a lot faster, probably being included in his group. They will reveal things faster and bond faster, but I won't be including Daphne and Tracey that often, maybe a few times near the start, but with the different houses not that much after that point. The only way that I could think to bring them in would be to use a marriage contract, either with Harry or Daphne thinking that he is the only one to get her out of it. **

** Harry, Delphini, Ron, Hermione and Neville. **

**If (3) is picked then they will be much like the second option when it comes to their relationship, but the story will be much darker because of where they are and who they spend their time with, I'm not sure exactly how I will do this option yet. I was thinking that I could have them be in a group with neutral families. Dumbledore will interfere more in this case, he will see there is no other choice when he starts getting darker. **

**Harry, Delphini, Daphne, Tracey and Blaise. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"SLYTHERIN!"

With one word the whole room fell silent, every single person in the Great Hall went quiet as Harry's house choice was announced. Everyone stared at Harry as he sat up from the stool, ignoring everything that went on around him, the twinkle in Dumbledore's eye vanishing with the sound as a sudden sense of fear gripped him, a feeling as though another mountain of weight had been added to his shoulders, making him sink slightly into his seat, not that anyone noticed. It seemed insane to everyone that the boy who killed the Dark Lord Voldemort was going to be a member of the 'evil house'. Harry didn't mind at all though, it wasn't about the house that he was in, it was about what he did with his time in that house. He could be put in Hufflepuff and if he wanted to end up as a Dark Lord if he wanted, but he could also be in Slytherin and decide to be the next guardian of the light if he so chose. Not that anything was really that black and white.

He offered a slight smile as he passed by Delphini and made his way over to the table as the Sorting resumed. The Slytherin Prefect waiting for him was a smug looking boy with heavily gelled hair, his smile even more smug looking. Still, despite his appearance Harry shook his hand when he put out his hand, although he didn't want to. "Welcome to Slytherin, Potter." He smirked, glancing in the direction of the other houses, who had each started nervously clapping along with the teachers and the Slytherin table.

"Thanks." Harry forced a smile. _'Idiot.' _He sat down at the table with the other first years and resumed watching the ceremony from his seat. The next person to be sorted was Delphini, who sat there as the hat was lowered onto her head and then waited for around thirty seconds before she smiled, and the hat announced.

"SLYTHERIN!"

She hopped off the stool and quickly made her way over to the table, sitting down opposite Harry and beside Daphne.

**[BREAK]**

Delphini couldn't help but feel relieved as she took her seat, giving Harry a quick glance as she did so before turning to her new friends, assured that at least one thing in her life was as it was supposed to be. Aside from that pretty much everything she was up in the air. For as long as she could remember she had been told what her life was supposed to be, everything she was told was an absolute. Voldemort was the true hero and Harry Potter was the evil, undeserving, child who killed him in a freak accident. He was a monster. He was the enemy. A demon. Nothing more. But from what she had experienced he was nothing like that. True he could just be lying but thinking that just wouldn't stick in her head. Every time she tried to force that thought to the forefront of her mind, to excuse what she was feeling it just wouldn't stick.

Slytherin, regardless of the reason she was put in it, was the only consistency for her. Although feeling the relief she did when Harry and she ended up in the same house took away from that somewhat. _'Why is he so confusing?!' _She internally screamed.

_'How much of my life is a lie?' _Was the final thought she had before she was dragged into conversation by Tracey Davis, the extrovert in the newly formed trio of sorts.

**[BREAK]**

Not really caring about anyone else's sorting Harry only half listened to the rest while he glanced toward Draco Malfoy. He was sure that after the train he would be taking advantage of the fact they would be in the same house and probably sleeping in the same room. He wasn't big on trust. And Draco definitely wasn't in that 'I trust you' list. There were only very few people that he really trusted, that list being Newt and his wife, and Draco was not now or ever going to be on that list. Fingering the wand in his sleeve he considered for a moment spelling him with a curse, but he didn't really have a curse that he could use for this type of thing. He knew some magic of course, but Newt had only taught him the first and seconds year spells as well as some other useful ones. His time with Newt wasn't about getting ahead or learning how to fight, it was about learning to control and accept who he was and what that meant. After that moment of consideration passed, he wished that he had learned how to ward or something or could get away with murdering him somehow.

He was so in his own head that he barely noticed when the table suddenly filled with food. There were so many dishes on the table that it covered almost every inch of wood, inside each of them were various foods all perfectly cooked to everyone's standards, mountains of roast beef, pork chops, chicken, lamb, sausages, strips of bacon, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, mash potatoes, chips, burgers already in buns, cheese burgers already in buns, Yorkshire puddings, peas, carrots, small dishes of sauces: ketchup, mayonnaise and BBQ sauce. With several pots of gravy and a few mints. By each person was a plate, cutlery and a goblet that looked gold but definitely wasn't, with juice inside. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of all of it.

"Never seen food before?" A voice to his side suddenly emerged, cutting into his thoughts, bringing Harry's attention to his left. The boy that had spoke was a young dark-skinned boy with hair so short that he almost looked bald.

"No, just never seen this much in one place. You could feed a country with this much." Harry smiled.

"Blaise," he held out his hand before he finished "Zabini."

"Harry," he took his hand as he mimicked his speaking pattern "Potter."

"No way." Blaise faked gasped before smirking. "So, what'd you do to him?" He gestured with his head over to Draco, who was glaring at Harry, although when Harry caught his gaze he sneered and then went back to eating and talking to his group of 'friends'. "I mean I don't really know Draco that well, just seen him a few times, and he sneers at a lot of people, usually for dumb reasons, but something must've happened for the if-looks-could-kill-you'd-be-dead-stare."

"Hmm," Harry paused as he lifted a goblet to his lips and drank "well I might've met him on the train before we got here." He admitted before he started to select bits of food to eat, placing them on his plate. He took a handful of chips, a cheeseburger, a few strips of bacon, a dollop of ketchup along with another of mayo and a few sausages.

As he ate his selection of food and Blaise did the same the two got to talking, getting to know one another a little better. During their conversation the two became as close to friends as they could be in the limited time they had, but despite that Harry still got the impression that Blaise was an incredibly vain person, and while he wasn't a total bigot there were elements of it in the way that he spoke. Although that was to be expected given his origin. He also got the impression that Blaise liked to stick to himself for the most part as he'd only started talking to Harry because he too looked to be the loner type, maybe to try and gain mutual protection or something else.

With his plate filled Harry and Blaise continued to make small talk as they ate. During the conversation Harry was able to get a little bit of a read on the other young wizard, casually glancing over at Delphini and her friends from time to time, somehow feeling a strange connection to her that made him extremely wary. For one despite how nice he came off he was extremely vain for his age, and while not to the extremes of others such as Draco he did hold bigoted beliefs that were just barely concealed by the young wizard. Still he was redeemable considering this was only their first year, but whether Harry would make that kind of effort would depend on the next few weeks and what he observed and anything else he discovered about him. Still, regardless of his reservations or the effort of trying to analyse Blaise it was better talking to him than eating in total silence.

After almost everyone had finished eating the dishes were cleared and replaced by puddings, a selection just as vast as the main dishes. Harry chose to eat a slice of chocolate cake in a bowl with some ice cream, a scoop of vanilla with strange looking sprinkles and a scoop of chocolate with a pink-red sauce that he thought was strawberry but turned out to be something else, although still tasted very nice.

Eventually everything vanished just like the main course had. Professor Dumbledore got to his feet, making everyone fall silent. "Ahem, just a few more words now we are all fed and watered." He began. "I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First-years should note that the forest of the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." His twinkling eyes passed over the room but lingered for a moment on the Weasley twins. "I have also asked Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

There were a few people that laughed, clearly assuming he was joking, but the number of people that did was very low. _'Crazy old fool.'_ Harry thought as he leaned forward onto his hands as his elbows propped him up. _'He's definitely up to something.' _Harry didn't really get why he was hiding information, but if the reasons for keeping students away from the third-floor were normal he'd give a reasonable explanation for it, the only reason he wouldn't was if he was hiding something, and the only reason he would hide something was if he was planning something.

Then doing a complete one eighty from the serious mood that had been set Dumbledore then had them sing a song but left it up to each person how they wanted to sing the song, meaning that every student finished and sung the song differently. Then when that was done with, they were escorted, each house of first-years, to their new dorms by the Prefects.

**[BREAK]**

The first-years were all guided down to the dungeons of the castle, where the dorms were situated, where they found themselves in front of a damp stone wall. The Prefect stepped up to the wall and stated the password loud enough for them each to hear, trigger the opening of the wall to reveal the secret entrance into the Common Room. The Common Room itself screamed Slytherin as soon as it was visible. It was a large stone room with a few windows, outside each of which was water, reminding him that they were under the Black Lake in that moment.

While candles seemed to be used in every room of the castle, based on what Harry had seen thus far, the Common Room was completely different. The only flame that provided light was the flames in the fireplace on the far side of the room. It was a grand looking fireplace made almost completely from stone aside from the metal framework around the fire and the dark wooden surface above it where several different animal skulls were sitting. The fireplace was carved to have an elegant look with the Slytherin house shield in the centre above the fire, just below the skulls. Then above the whole thing, contained in an engraved arch, was a larger version of the shield with same snake design with one unique difference, that the eye of the snake contained a shining green gem that seemed to glow as it reflected the light. On either side of the fire were a sofa, on the left from Harry's perspective, and an armchair. Between the fireplace and the armchair was a small circular table. A chess board and a box, which he assumed contained the pieces for said chess set, sat atop the small table. The sofa and chair were both black leather with green cushions, and both had some elegant silver decoration.

Throughout the rest of the room there were several other seating options, all with the same black leather, green cushions and when metal was involved it was a clean silver. There were several tables, other chess sets, a few fruit bowls and some stray candles. Hanging above it all were the main source of light, balls of green glass with dancing light contained within, hanging from the black chains that connected them to the ceiling. The dancing light itself appeared to be a ball in the centre while a partially formed ring span around the orb, its path shifting slightly each time before returning to the first, almost like it was on a repeat cycle.

They were introduced to where they were and then shown to their dorms, where their luggage was already waiting for them. The room seemed to follow the same theme as the rest of the house. Their beds were grand, with a black wooden frame, a silver bed cover, with green pillows and duvet. In the four-posted bed frame had curtains fitted that Harry was somewhat thankful for. Beside each of the beds was a bedside table, with a lamp on them and space underneath for storage, mainly their trunks. "Looks like we'll be neighbours." Blaise nudged him as he took a seat on his own bed.

"Yeah." He walked over to his bed, checking out the uniform that was waiting for him. "Do you know when we'll get our timetables?"

"Uh, I think we get them tomorrow after breakfast."

"Leaving it a little late don't you think? I mean it would be easier to just give them to us now, leaving it with the rest of our stuff."

"Yeah, be funny if they just never thought of it." Blaise smirked.

Cautiously keeping an eye on Draco, Harry then started to get ready for bed, he didn't doubt for a moment that Draco would take advantage of it if he left himself open for even a moment. Blaise also got ready, although he was also keeping an eye on everyone it wasn't nearly as serious as Harry, he had just noticed what Harry was doing and started to wonder if something more serious was a foot that he should keep his eye out for.

**[ ~ DREAM ~ ]**

_"Harry."_ Disturbing the silence of a perfectly peaceful dream, a creepily sinister voice that seemed all so familiar to him, cut into Harry's mind immediately making him wince from the pain that erupted in his scar. Whatever his dream had been before twisted and contorted until Harry found himself in the centre of the destruction of the Dursley's home from when his powers first erupted. Past the destruction thought there was nothing, just an infinite void of darkness. _"Harry." _The voice repeated itself, hissing in a very snake-like manner.

"…Hello?" Harry hesitantly called out as he got to his feet, barely caring that he was in the midst of the rubble of a house, a black oily substance appearing like a mist on the skin of his forearms. He surveyed every inch of the rubble, but he couldn't see anything or one that was out of the ordinary.

_"Harry." _

As if a hole opened beneath him Harry suddenly fell through the ground, falling into complete darkness for a moment before he hit the ground. "Ouch," he rubbed his forehead "that hurt." When his hand moved upward, he suddenly felt fabric, a rough, irritating fabric, that was wrapped around his head. He began touching the fabric to feel out what it was because he couldn't see. _'A turban?'_

"Harry." The same voice but louder came again, but rather than in his head it was this time coming from the back of his head, concealed by the turban. He first tried to remove it normally, but every time he attempted to remove it, the turban instead chose to tighten. Each time he attempted to take it off he became more frantic, until eventually he was tearing at the fabric in a furiously panicked state. Draco, Snape and several figures with masks appeared around him, their forms a mix between solid and smoke, in a circle laughing at him as his struggle continued to try and get the turban off. The laughs became high and cold, then as they transformed into inhuman screech a green light flashed so brightly that it blinded him.

**[BREAK]**

Harry sprung awake, sweating and shaking, breathing raggedly, reflexively grabbing his wand from under his pillow and aiming it all around as he examined the whole room, the same oily, black, mist from his dream emerging from his other hand which he clenched into a fist. Everyone else was fast asleep and no one else was there, nothing out of place, but it still took him several minutes of looking around and trying to control himself before he was able to steady his breathing and slow his heartrate back to normal.

"That was… different." He had had many dreams over the years, all of which featured some strange things, but the turban was new. He couldn't help thinking that this one was different, perhaps more than a dream.


End file.
